Steven Gerrard lands permanent role alongside football legends on The Overlap channel
Football careers rarely follow a straight line, and few illustrate that better than Steven Gerrard’s. The man who captained Liverpool through some of the most dramatic nights in the club’s history, who led Rangers to an unbeaten league title and who has managed in England and the Middle East, has now added a new job title to a long list. He has landed a permanent role on The Overlap, the hugely popular football channel founded by Gary Neville, and he will be a regular presenter on its new daily programme. For a player who spent his career on the opposite side of the great Liverpool and Manchester United divide, it is a striking alliance.
The announcement came through the channel’s own social media account, which introduced its hosts for a brand new weekday show called The Overlap Daily. The former Rangers manager was named as part of an all-star line-up that includes former Premier League players such as Joe Hart, Ashley Young, Jamie Redknapp and Peter Schmeichel. Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, the two figures most closely associated with the original podcast, will continue to be involved, and the channel promised that from Monday to Friday its team would be talking football, football and more football. The first episode is due on Friday 9 October.
The full list of names gives a sense of the scale of the project. Alongside Gerrard, the hosts and regulars include Becky Ives, Kelly Cates, Joe Hart, Ashley Young, Jamie Redknapp, Tim Sherwood, Gary Neville, Peter Schmeichel, Jamie Carragher and the YouTube personality Mark Goldbridge. Other reports add Duncan Ferguson and Mark Crossley to the roster, with the former Everton striker and the former Wales goalkeeper expected to take on presenting duties on Thursdays. It is a mixture of former players, established broadcasters and online personalities, and it reflects a deliberate attempt to blend different audiences within one show.
Gerrard’s own role has been described in some detail. He is reportedly set to co-host the Monday edition with the sports presenter Becky Ives, which means he will make his regular hosting debut at the start of each working week. The programme itself will go out every weekday at 4pm, offering a daily summary of football news and debate, with exclusive analysis from regular contributors, predictions from the hosts and a phone-in feature that lets supporters ask questions. For Gerrard, the Monday slot is an appealing one, because it gives him the first chance each week to react to the weekend’s matches while the stories are fresh.
The channel’s pitch rests on the success of the original Overlap podcast, which Neville launched in 2021 and which has since built an audience of more than 38 million monthly views. Over that time, it has attracted an impressive roll call of guests, including David Beckham, Tyson Fury and Rory McIlroy, and it has become one of the most listened-to football shows in the country. The decision to expand into a daily programme is therefore a natural step, building on a brand that has already proved it can hold an audience and attract big names. It also reflects a wider trend in sports media, where long-form conversation and personality-led content are increasingly taking the place of traditional studio punditry.
Neville himself explained the thinking behind the new format. He said the team had wanted to create a daily show for some time, and that the moment they decided to act came when a manager was sacked during the previous year and they found they had no programme to respond with for a full week. That anecdote captures what a daily show is designed to fix. Football is a business of constant news, and an audience that cares about a sacking, a transfer or a controversial refereeing decision wants to hear reaction straight away. A weekly podcast cannot always provide that, whereas a programme that appears every day at the same time can become part of a supporter’s routine.
Simon Pitts, the Group CEO of Global and co-chair of The Overlap, echoed that message by describing the brand as one of the most powerful in the game, built on talent and genuine fan conversation. His comments make clear that the commercial ambition is substantial. A daily show multiplies the amount of content available to advertisers and sponsors, and it strengthens the relationship with viewers who return day after day. By attracting a high-profile host such as Gerrard, the channel adds another recognisable face and, with him, an audience that may not have been loyal to the existing presenters.
For Gerrard, the move adds to what has become a busy media schedule. He has already returned to television this season as a regular pundit for TNT Sports, a role that has seen him back in front of the cameras analysing matches. The new job with The Overlap Daily is a different kind of challenge, because it involves hosting rather than simply offering opinions, and it calls for a conversational skill that goes beyond tactical analysis. Presenting means steering a discussion, drawing out colleagues and keeping a show moving, which is a different art from delivering a verdict on a goal or a formation. It will be interesting to see how he adapts.
His own reaction was upbeat. In a post confirming the move, he said he was buzzing to be joining the team, adding that there was plenty of football to get stuck into and plenty of opinions to go with it. The tone is typical of someone who enjoys the game and does not take himself too seriously in a social media setting, and it hints at the energy he hopes to bring to the show. The reference to opinions is also a fair one, because the format depends on strong views being expressed openly, and Gerrard has never been shy about speaking his mind
The most intriguing aspect of the story, at least for Rangers supporters, is what Gerrard said in a separate interview just before the announcement. Appearing on the Open Goal programme, he talked about the club he managed from 2018 to 2021, a spell that ended with the league title and an unbeaten domestic campaign. He was asked about a possible return to Ibrox in the future, and he answered with a shrug, saying simply that nobody knows. It was a typically careful reply, neither closing the door nor opening it, and it will keep alive the speculation that has followed him ever since he left Glasgow.
He went on to explain why he has been reluctant to make regular appearances in a television studio when it comes to talking about Rangers. According to the report, he said he had been hesitant for a certain amount of time to sit in the box in a suit and comment on the club, because he does not want to disrespect any manager currently in the position. That is a thoughtful stance, and it speaks to the unwritten code that exists among former managers, who often feel an obligation not to undermine those who have taken over. For a man who loves the club, staying quiet has not always been easy, and the decision to speak out now suggests that he feels more comfortable with the situation.
His comments about the current manager were notably generous. Gerrard said he has nothing but respect for Derek McInnes, whom he described as one of the toughest challenges for his staff when McInnes was in charge at Aberdeen. That is high praise from someone who beat many opponents in Scotland and who knows how difficult it is to get results against well-organised sides. It also signals that, whatever his private thoughts about the future, Gerrard is not trying to position himself as a rival to the man who now occupies the Ibrox dugout. Instead, he presents himself as a supporter who follows the results and loves the club.
That love for Rangers is likely to be a recurring theme. In the interview, he said he follows the club closely and keeps an eye on the results, a statement that will reassure supporters who still regard him as one of their own. Gerrard’s time at Ibrox is remembered fondly for the way he restored belief after years of frustration, ending the long wait for a league title and reinvigorating a squad that many had written off. Even though his later career took him to Aston Villa and then to Saudi Arabia, the association with Rangers has remained strong, and his new platform gives him a fresh way to express it.
It is worth pausing on the significance of the Neville connection. The two men spent their playing careers on opposite sides of English football’s fiercest rivalry, and for years they were symbols of the tension between Liverpool and Manchester United. Seeing them share a platform is a reminder of how much the media landscape has changed. Rivalries that once seemed bitter and irreconcilable are now material for entertaining conversation, and the shared experience of having played at the highest level often outweighs old club loyalties. Gerrard is following in the footsteps of his former Liverpool teammate Jamie Carragher, who has worked with Neville for years and who has shown that such partnerships can be both successful and good-humoured.
The wider media context also deserves attention. Over the past decade, former players have found that podcasts and YouTube channels offer a level of freedom and reach that traditional broadcasters sometimes struggle to match. They can speak at length, relax in their language and tell stories that would not fit into a short television segment. That intimacy appeals to audiences who want more than a quick verdict, and it has turned shows like The Overlap into major cultural players. Gerrard’s decision to join such a venture says something about where the centre of gravity in football media has moved, and it suggests that the next generation of pundits will be as likely to build their reputations on digital platforms as on the screens of the big broadcasters.
There is, of course, the question of whether a daily show can sustain its quality. Producing five programmes a week with a rotating group of hosts is a demanding task, and the risk is that the content becomes repetitive or loses the spark that made the original podcast popular. Neville’s team appears to have anticipated that by assigning different hosts to different days, with Gerrard and Ives on Monday, Ferguson and Crossley on Thursday and Goldbridge on Friday, with Neville, Carragher and others providing analysis. Spreading the workload in this way should help to keep the programme fresh, and it gives viewers a reason to tune in to different editions depending on their taste.
Gerrard’s presence also brings a particular perspective. As someone who has been a captain, a manager and a pundit, he can speak with authority about the pressures that players and coaches face. His time at Rangers, Aston Villa and elsewhere has given him insight into how clubs operate behind the scenes, and that knowledge could help the show offer more informed commentary on topics such as managerial sackings, transfer strategy and dressing room dynamics. At the same time, he will need to be careful about conflicts, because speaking about clubs he has worked for or might work for in the future carries obvious sensitivities.
That brings us back to the question of a possible return to management. Gerrard is 46, which is relatively young for a manager, and his name is regularly linked with vacancies. A permanent media role does not rule out a comeback, and plenty of former managers have gone back and forth between the dugout and the studio. In his Open Goal interview, he left the possibility open, and nothing in the announcement suggests that he has abandoned his coaching ambitions. If anything, a high-profile platform keeps him in the public eye, which can be useful when clubs are looking for a new manager. For the moment, though, he appears to be enjoying his new media career.
For Rangers fans, the news is a mixture of pride and curiosity. It is pleasant to see a former manager and hero doing well and speaking warmly about the club, and many will be keen to hear what he says about Ibrox on the new show. At the same time, there will be some who wonder whether the greater exposure will lead to further speculation about his future at the club. The relationship between Gerrard and Rangers supporters is a special one, and it is bound to influence how his comments are received. A word of praise for the current team will be welcomed, while any criticism, however mild, will be scrutinised closely.
From a purely sporting perspective, the story also underlines how much Rangers remains in the national conversation. A show with a global audience, hosted by a figure who once managed the club, is likely to mention it regularly, particularly when the team is doing well. The current side has won six matches in a row, including victories over Celtic, and that run provides plenty of material for discussion. If Gerrard chooses to comment on it, he will be able to do so with the authority of someone who knows exactly what it takes to win in Scotland.
In the end, the announcement is a reminder of how quickly football careers can evolve. A player who spent two decades at the top, then moved into management and travelled the world, has found a new calling in the media, and he has done so with the blessing of one of his former rivals. The success of the venture will depend on the quality of the content and the chemistry between the hosts, but the early signs are promising. With a high-profile launch, a strong line-up and an established audience to build on, The Overlap Daily has every chance of becoming a fixture in the football calendar.
As Friday’s first episode approaches, the attention will be on how the new team performs. Neville, Carragher and Goldbridge will lead the opening show, and Gerrard’s first appearance as a regular host will follow on the Monday. Supporters from all clubs will be watching to see whether the show lives up to its billing, and Rangers fans in particular will be waiting to hear what their former manager has to say. Whatever happens, he has already achieved something notable by securing a permanent place on one of the most successful football channels in the country.
